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Social Work,
the Food Movement,
and Food JusticeCini Bretzlaff-Holstein, MSW, LSW
Assistant Professor of Social Work – Trinity Christian College
What’s On Your Plate: Food Insecurity in the United States Conference
Union University School of Social Work – April 23, 2014
A Food Justice Journey…
A Food Justice Journey…
We are grateful for the time we have been
given together to learn and grow
becoming more like the people we were
created to be,
as we do and prepare to do the restorative
work we were created for on Earth as it is in
Heaven.
Workshop Outcomes
1. Participants will learn about the complexities behind how the food system is
broken and what role the food movement and food justice play in response to it.
2. Participants will learn strategies and techniques for how social workers can
engage with the food movement.
3. Participants will engage in dialogue around the role of social workers and the role
of the Church in the food movement, and will explore how it is possible to respond
to various forms of food injustices by fostering good food citizenship.
YOUR FAVORITE
MEALHOW MUCH DO WE REALLY KNOW ABOUT OUR FOOD?
Begin thinking about our own place in the food system
Consider where our food comes from
Consider who grows our food
Surface stereotypes about farms, farmers and farm workers
“The problem with our role in creation is that we don’t remember it. In our fallen state we
have forgotten our place, both within God’s will and love and also in our love and care for
creation. We need to be reminded of who we are and what we are about.” – Ragan
Sutterfield, Farming as a Spiritual Discipline, p.5
“Food is about the relationships that join us to the earth, fellow creatures, loved ones and
guests, and ultimately God. How we eat testifies to whether we value the creatures we live
with and depend on.” – Norman Wirzba, Food and Faith, p.4
“…the very idea of fast, cheap, and convenient food suggests eating is not supposed to be
the activity whereby people honor God, appreciate creation, or accept responsibility for
their membership within it. Is eating simply a mechanical act to be judged primarily in terms
of efficiency and price? To ‘grab a bite on the go’ communicates that people do not believe
their eating should occasion the sustained attention or reflection that might lead to greater care of our food networks and more regular celebration of the gifts of life.” – Norman Wirzba,
Food and Faith, p.127
OUR FOOD SYSTEM IS BROKEN
Bra
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Movement Branch
1. Food Systems
2. Food Politics and Ethics
3. Food and Health
Subfields Food security
Just and sustainable food
Planning and community development
Animal welfare
Anti-hunger advocates
Environmentalists
Environmental justice
Food policy councils
Locavores
Slow Food
Sustainable agriculture
Food safety
Lifestyle
Nutrition
Obesity
Organics
Conway, P., & Lassier, P. (2011). Opportunity knocks: The intersection of community social work and food
justice praxis. Arete, 32(2), 5-32.
Communities: ControlThe Farm Bill, Industrial Food System, Agribusiness
Communities: Control Farm Bill – sets up the funding structure for agriculture, food stamps, rural
development and agricultural research in the United States
Commodity crops – corn, soybeans, wheat, sorghum, barley, oats, rice, cotton
Subsidies – loans and government payments for farmers who grow these crops
“That’s what we’ve been heavily subsidizing,
encouraging farmers to grow more of, and that’s
what makes fast food so cheap. Meanwhile over
in the production section, the head of broccoli costs more than a fast-food hamburger. Why is that?
We do very little to encourage farmers to grow what are
called specialty crops, which is ACTUAL food you can eat.”
- Michael Pollan, Food, Inc.
CONSUMERS:In that case, should
access to healthy food
be a right for
everyone?
Consumers: Access
What are food deserts?
Mari Gallagher Research & Consulting Group (2008) defines food deserts as large geographic area with no or distant mainstream grocery store.
Barriers to access – full of fast food restaurants, and often lack grocery stores and playgrounds, places where buying healthy food can be a challenge and where going outside for physical activity can be unsafe.
Consumers: Health
OBESITY EPIDEMIC:
More than two out of three U.S. adults are overweight or obese.
People with lower incomes are more likely to eat cheaper, processed foods, and are also more likely to suffer from obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and other diet-related health problems.
According to the CDC, states where poverty is highest have the highest rates of obesity—nine of the ten states with the highest rates of obesity are also the poorest states in the nation.
One in three children born in 2000 will develop diabetes at some point in his or her lifetime. Among African-American and Latino children, that number is one-in-two.
(The Weight of the Nation, 2012)
A brief note about these cheap, processed,
easy calories, dead, food-like products…
These food-like products that are inexpensive and easily accessible
are highly palatable and have a high hedonic value, which gives us
pleasure engaging the full range of senses – especially taste, which
“has by far the most direct connection to the body’s reward system”
(Kessler, 2009, p.36).
Rewarding foods rewire our brain to want more of these highly
palatable foods because of two brain chemicals:
Dopamine
Opiods
Can result in what Kessler calls “conditioned hypereating” (2009).
Cost of the Obesity Epidemic
According to the CDC, the annual
medical costs of an obese person
are $1,400 more than for someone
who’s not obese.
Obesity costs the nation an
estimated $147 billion per year in
medical costs.
1 in 4 young Americans do not
meet the weight requirement to join the armed Forces.
(The Weight of the Nation, 2012)
“We’re willing to subsidize
the food system to create the
mystique of cheap food when
actually it’s very expensive food.”
–Farmer Joel Salatin
What does he mean by this?
“Closing the Food Gap”
PUBLIC SECTOR:
Federal Nutrition Assistance Programs (safety net programs)
SNAP
WIC
The National School Lunch Program
Child Nutrition Reauthorization, the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010
PRIVATE SECTOR:
Emergency feeding programs – increasingly becoming the first line of defense against hunger (charity model)
Soup kitchens
Food pantries
Food banks
Food Security… or not…
Rise in reliance upon safety net food programs such
as SNAP and WIC since 2008 due to the decline in the
national economy (Nestle, 2008).
Food security is not just a food justice issue, but a racial justice issue:
Highest among African American households and Latino
households
“The least secure segments of the population are
households with children headed by single women,
especially those black or Hispanic” (Nestle, 2013, p.20).
Growing Food and Justice for All Initiative
“What does it profit a man to be able to eat at an integrated lunch if he doesn’t earn enough money to buy a hamburger?”
– Martin Luther King, Jr., 1969
“It’s time for us to launch another movement, this time to ensure that all Americans have physical and economic access to all the nutritious food their families need. It’s time for all Americans to have an equal place at the table.” – Joel Berg, A Place at the Table, p. 214
Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” – John 6:35
Food Justice and Food Citizenship
Definitions of Food Justice
Food Justice Book
“Food justice seeks to ensure that the benefits and risks of where, what, and how food is grown, produced, transported, distributed, accessed and eaten are shared fairly.”
“Food justice represents a transformation of the current food system, including but not limited to eliminating disparities and inequities.”
Institute for Agriculture
and Trade Policy “Food justice is the right of communities
everywhere to produce, possess, distribute, access, and eat good food regardless of race, class, gender, ethnicity, citizenship, ability, religion or community. Includes:
Freedom from exploitation
Ensures the rights of workers to fair labor practices
Values-based: respect, empathy, pluralism, valuing knowledge
Racial Justice; dismantling of racism and white privilege
Gender equity
What is Food Citizenship?
“The practice of engaging in
food-related behaviors that
support, rather than threaten,
the development of a democratic,
socially and economically just, and
environmentally sustainable food system”
(Wilkins, 2005, p. 269).
Food Security Movement
“Community food security is a condition
in which all community residents obtain a
safe, culturally acceptable, nutritionally
adequate diet through a sustainable food
system that maximizes community
self-reliance and social justice”
(Pothukuchi, Joseph, Burton, Fisher, 2002).
“A Place at the Table” documentary
WhyHunger’s Food Security Learning Center (FSLC)
Strategies for Social Workers and
Faith-Communities to Promote Food
Justice in Their Own Community:
Addressing Food Disparities and
Inequities
“The Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich foods for all peoples...”
–Isaiah 25:6
Created
by:
Faith-Rooted Organizing &
Biblical Advocacy
Completely guided and
shaped by faith
Seeing through God’s eyes –
“Do we have eyes to see?” –
Alexia Salvatierra
Designed to enable people of
faith to contribute our unique gifts to the broader movement
for justice
Biblical Advocacy:
“Not Just WHY We
Advocate – HOW we
advocate – Advocacy as if
God is real and Jesus is
risen.” – Alexia Salvatierra
Calling our representatives
to do what God has called
them to do
What is the divine purpose
of government? Psalm 72, Romans 13, Exodus 3:1-10
Faith-Rooted Organizing:
Ingredients for a Local, Sustainable,
Just Alternative Food System
Community gardening and youth gardening
Farmer’s markets
Food co-ops
Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs)
Food banks
Food policy councils – developing and supporting local and regional food economies (moving from projects to policy for a just, sustainable food system)
New supermarkets
Nutrition education programs
Food processing center for canning, freezing, drying, butchering, and storage
Solar greenhouses
Cold frames
Roof-top production
New government-funded food and farm initiatives
Farmland preservation programs
Strategies/Tools: Promoting a local, sustainable, and just alternative food system
Conduct a Community Food Assessment
See former Community Food Security Coalition’s guide to a community food assessment
www.downtowndevelopment.com/pdf/whats_cooking.pdf
Start where the community is at and ask them what they want to see change around this
issue of food insecurity. Do something creative and fun like a potluck inviting people to
bring a favorite seasonal dish.
Launch a community garden meeting in community
See the American Community Garden Association’s guidelines for launching a
community garden
www.communitygarden.org
If applicable, partner with local university’s master gardeners extension for planning out
community garden.
Strategies/Tools: Promoting a local, sustainable, and just alternative food system
Create a CSA, if already have a community garden(s) or partner with an already existing CSA to bring fresh, seasonal produce to consumers (agency or church can serve as a host site for a local CSA)
Connect with local farmers’ market manager to make sure they are authorized to accept SNAP benefits
Shout out!: Kankakee Farmers’ Market is one of IL’s farmers markets that accepts SNAP benefits… yay! – located in central location: Downtown K3, accessible by public transportation
Help eligible individuals & families get signed up for SNAP and use those benefits to garden vegetables and plants with their benefits – see SNAP Gardens @...
www.SNAPgardens.org
Partner with local gov’t to start educational urban gardens in food deserts for people to learn how to grow their own food
Partner with neighborhood community development organizations to start a neighborhood Food Co-op
Strategies/Tools: Promoting a local, sustainable, and just alternative food system
Academic Settings:
National Farm to School Network
http://www.farmtoschool.org/
The Edible School Yard Project
http://edibleschoolyard.org/
College Campuses
The Real Food Challenge
http://www.realfoodchallenge.org/
POLICY EFFECTS PRACTICEPRACTICE EFFECTS POLICY
Form a Food Policy Advisory Council in your community – help local, regional, or state
governments address food system challenges and others
Example: Chicago Food Policy Advisory Council
www.growingpower.org/food_policy.htm
Food Policy Council Manual: Doing Food Policy Councils Right: A Guide to Development
and Action, Michael Burgan & Mark Winne, Mark Winne Associates (2012)
http://www.markwinne.com/resource-materials/
Baylor University’s Texas Hunger Initiative
does something similar called Food
Planning Associations
www.baylor.edu/texashunger
“Innovation and change do not occur
spontaneously in major centers of political power
without the incendiary spark of the populists’ voice.
Democracy works best when it’s closet to the
people.” -Mark Winne, Closing the Food Gap
Strategies/Tools: Promoting a local, sustainable, and just alternative food system
Discover how your elected representative voted to keep food healthy, safe, and affordable
at http://www.foodpolicyaction.org/
Enact innovative solutions to self-sufficiency with New York City Coalition Against Hunger’s
handbook Ending Hunger through Citizen Service (from Joel Berg, “Beyond the Charity
Myth,” A Place at the Table Participant Guide)
www.hungervolunteer.org
Utilize Bread for the World’s 2013 Offering of Letters campaign kit for advocacy purposes
http://www.takepart.com/sites/default/files/APATT_Bread_Toolkit.pdf
Closing DiscussionEnvisioning a Food Secure Community
“Every minute that you entertain yourself without paying some corporation to
entertain you, you’re acting radically. If you grown even one plateful of your
own food rather than buy it from food corporations, you’re acting radically. If
you shop at a farmers’ market, you’re acting radically.” –Wendell Berry
1. What does a food secure community/neighborhood look
like? – “HEAVEN ON EARTH”
2. What does a food secure community/neighborhood NOT
look like? – “HELL ON EARTH”
3. What is you ideal vision of a food secure community/neighborhood?
I CHARGE YOU…“Contrary to stereotype, we’re most effective when
we realize that there is no perfect time to get involved in social causes, no ideal circumstances for voicing our convictions. What each of us faces instead is a lifelong series of imperfect moments in which we must decide what we stand for” (Loeb,
2010, p.54).
“They will live again in freedom in the GARDEN of the Lord. They will walk behind the
plowshare. They will put away the sword. The chains will be broken and all men shall
have their reward.
WILL YOU JOIN IN OUR CRUSADE? WHO WILL BE STRONG AND STAND WITH ME?
SOMEWHERE BEYOND THE BARACADE IS THERE A WORLD YOU LONG TO SEE? DO YOU
HEAR THE PEOPLE SING? SAY DO YOU HEAR THE DISTANT DRUM? IT IS A FUTURE THAT
MAY BRING WHEN TOMORROW COMES.”
Les Miserables, The Musical
References
Berg, J. (2013) Beyond the charity myth. In Pringle, P. (Ed.) A place at the table: The crisis of 49
million hungry americans and how to solve it (pp.199-215). New York, NY: PublicAffairs.
Chakin, D. (2012). The weight of the nation. [Documentary]. United States: HBO Films.
Conway, P., & Lassier, P. (2011). Opportunity knocks: The intersection of community social work and
food justice praxis. Arete, 32(2), 5-32.
Gallagher, M. (2008). Examining the impact of food deserts on public health in Chicago. Chicago,
IL: Mari Gallagher Research & Consulting Group.
Gottlieb, R., & Joshi, A. (2010). Food justice: Food, health, and the environment. Massachusetts:
MIT Press.
Hoefer, R., & Curry, C. (2011). Food security and social protection in the united states. Journal of
Policy Practice, 11(1-2) 59-76.
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. (2012). Draft principles for food justice. Retrieved January
2, 2013 from http://www.iatp.org/documents/draft-principles-of-food-justice.
Jacobson, M. (2007). Food matters: Community food assessments as a tool for change. Journal of
Community Practice, 15(3), 37-55.
Kenner, R. (Director). 2008. Food, inc. [Documentary]. United States: Participant Media.
ReferencesLoeb, P.R. (2010). Soul of a citizen: Living with conviction in challenging times. New York, NY: St.
Martin’s Press.
Kessler, D.A. (2009). The end of overeating: Taking control of the insatiable american appetite. New York,
NY: Rodale Inc.
Nestle, M. (2013). Eat, drink, vote: An illustrated guide to food politics. New York, NY: Rodale Inc.
Nixon, R. (2013, September 19). House republicans pass deep cutes in food stamps. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/20/us/politics/house-passes-bill-cutting-40-billion-from-food-
stamps.html?_r=0.
Poppendieck, J. (2013). The abcs of school lunch. In Pringle, P. (Ed.) A place at the table: The crisis of
49 million hungry americans and how to solve it (pp.123-134). New York, NY: PublicAffairs.
Pothukuchi, K., Jpseph, H., Burton, H., Fisher, A. (2002). What’s cooking in your food system?: A guide
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Schumacher, G., Nischan, M., Simon, D.B. (2013). Food stamps: Once we had it right. In Pringle,
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Sutterfield, R. (2009). Farming as a spiritual discipline. Indianapolis, IN: Doulos Chrisou Press.
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